ASSESSING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GHANA’S LOCAL CONTENT LEGISLATION IN OIL AND GAS

Abstract Without the much-needed financial and technical resources to exploit the oil and gas resource discovered in 2007 on her own, Ghana sought foreign expertise to develop the Jubilee Field and surrounding fields. To enable locals benefit from the resource through increased employment, transfer of knowledge and technology know-how, supplier developments and various other means, a local content policy was adopted in 2011 and a subsequent Legislative Instrument passed in 2013 to enforce this policy. The question this paper seeks to answer is how effective the implementation of the Local Content Legislation in Ghana’s Oil and Gas Sector in fulfilling intended goals and objectives. This research interviewed three key stakeholders from a cross-section of the upstream oil and gas sector, which is directly targeted by the legislation. It also interviewed the body mandated by law to implement this legislation and a private policy expert. Respondents were chosen based on purposive stakeholder sampling, using the snowballing method. The data was analysed along four main themes; the alignment of the main policy content with the intended outcomes, the social, economic and political context of the legislation, the leadership for the implementation and the level of stakeholder involvement in implementation. Findings indicated that despite the fact that the rational for instituting such legislation is highly laudable, the alignment of the legislation, the social, economic and political context and stakeholder involvement do not support effective implementation. Implementers of the legislation therefore need to ensure that concerns and recommendations are taken into consideration to sure that Ghana derives the maximum benefits intended.